Kennedy Space Center –Rocket Garden

This may remind you of a sculpture garden at a museum of modern art. Indeed, some of the rocket engines on display look just as arty and a lot prettier than some modern art.

The stars of the show, however, are the big rockets. A plaque gives the vital statistics for each object for the technically inclined, but most people will be content to gawk and have their pictures taken in front of these amazing machines.

The Rocket Garden can be appreciated from a distance, but the Apollo-Saturn service arm, once part of the gantry that served the giant Saturn rockets, is worth a visit. Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins strode down this metal walkway en route to the moon. Also worth a closer look is the mammoth Saturn 1B rocket lying on its side on the far side of the garden; this behemoth generated a thrust of 1.3 million pounds as it lofted Skylab astronauts into orbit back in the seventies.

Guided tours of the area are available twice daily, with the schedule posted on a sign. This is a great chance to hear some stories that illuminate the human dimension of the space program.